NEW PALESTINE — With games against New Palestine last Wednesday and Mt. Vernon on Monday, Pendleton Heights had the opportunity in front of them to win their first Hoosier Heritage Conference title since 2017.

They took care of business on Wednesday against the Dragons 3-1 to move to 6-0 in HHC play and set themselves up with a meeting against the Marauders for the outright title.

As has been the norm in HHC play though, the Marauders won 4-1, winning their fourth straight title and eighth in the last nine years.

The Arabians closed out conference play with a 6-1 record and a second-place finish. The six wins were the most since 2017.

Here are recaps from the Arabians week of HHC games.

New Palestine

With conference title hopes on the line between two teams that have had a history of close games in recent years, last Wednesday’s girls soccer matchup between New Palestine and Pendleton Heights was expected to be intense and physical.

It was both of those things, and then some.

The second half saw New Palestine coaches receive yellow and red cards, countless physical fouls committed by both teams and 11 yellow cards given to players on both teams.

“The ref just lost control,” recipient of one of the second-half yellow cards and New Palestine head coach Erin Clark said. “The girls have to learn to how to control that, but he lost control of the game early and it was very evident in the last 10 to 15 minutes. The bottom line is though, we just did not show up to compete.”

Pendleton Heights led 3-0 before things started to unravel on and off the field in the closing 15 minutes.

During that time, Clark received a yellow card, New Palestine assistant coach Todd Thompson received a red card, multiple Dragons players were shown yellow cards, and a hard collision between New Palestine’s Tylar Whitaker and Pendleton Heights goalkeeper Priscilla Barajas gave the Dragons a free kick and their only goal of the night in a 3-1 loss.

“When the external factors get as chippy and extreme as they did, we’ve got to stay with what we know how to do,” Pendleton Heights head coach Jonathan McClure said. “Giving up so many late fouls puts a team as dangerous as New Pal on the front foot again. We were able to regroup and defend the moment down the stretch.”

While the second half was full of excitement and extracurriculars, the first half was nearly the opposite.

Both teams had limited scoring chances, and the only goal of the first 40 minutes came on a New Palestine own goal.

Eight minutes into the game, the Arabians played a ball into the box and as New Palestine goalkeeper Adalynn Eakin came out to play it, it deflected off a Dragons defender and into a wide-open net.

“That was huge. It settled our nerves and it allowed the girls to recognize that they could do it,” McClure said. “To set the tone like that early and to be able to go into the half with the lead helped how we wanted to approach that second half.”

The goal had the Dragons playing catch-up all night, in a game they didn’t want to have to play from behind.

“It’s absolutely deflating,” Clark said. “That first goal really set the tone for the game, unfortunately.”

During the final 30 minutes of the half, a few Whitaker through balls to Rylee Hurst and Nevaeh Gebhart went just long, Whitaker had a free kick saved by Barajas and Gebhart sent a shot just over the net.

“In the end, we didn’t control the ball enough,” Clark said. “We had some chances, and we just couldn’t put them in the back of the net. Even on some of our free kicks, we just gave them up without having a good chance on goal.”

The first three scoring chances of the second half came from Whitaker at the top of the Dragons attack. Two free kicks went off target, and after a great move to get by the Pendleton Heights defense, she sent a shot wide right.

The next scoring opportunity went to the Arabians and they converted.

On a free kick from just outside the right side of the box, Gracie Coleman curved a shot into the back corner of the net to put the Arabians ahead 2-0 with 31 minutes to go.

“That was us just being in the wrong place and another mistake,” Clark said. “We just made too many of those and didn’t play well enough to win.”

The next 15 minutes were more of the same.

Whitaker and the Dragons were awarded multiple free kicks and couldn’t convert, and Hurst sent a shot wide of the net.

On the following Pendleton Heights offensive push, they score again.

Eakin saved a shot by Courtney Prickett, but the rebound came to the New Palestine defense, and another miscue led to the ball finding Prickett’s foot again for the goal and 3-0 lead.

“We moved Gabby [Brown] up from the back before that third goal and she has just been so strong defensively,” Clark said. “Within 10 seconds they scored, and again, that was just another mistake as well.”

A Whitaker free-kick goal with six minutes to go gave the Dragons life, and they stayed on the attack over the closing minutes.

Barajas saved a header from Brown with four minutes to go, and shortly after made a diving save to deny a New Palestine goal.

“We were composed and disciplined back there. Even when we got rattled, we overcame it quickly,” McClure said. “New Pal is a handful. They’ve got a ton of speed, a ton of physicality and they’re just tough.”

The 3-1 win moved the Arabians to 6-0 in the HHC and set up Monay’s meeting with the 6-0 Marauders.

“We’re basically a brand new team on the field, and we could just not be more proud of how connected the girls are and how selfless the girls are,” McClure said. “To reboot one year removed from last year and to be in a position to fight for a title is an awesome one for our rebuilding program.”

Mt. Vernon

The Arabians traveled to Fortville on Monday with the hopes of leaving as outright HHC champs.

The tall task of defeating Mt. Vernon on their home pitch was standing in the way, though.

Courtney Prickett gave the Arabians the best start they could’ve hoped for, scoring just five minutes into the game, but it wasn’t enough against a high-powered Marauders offense.

The Marauders scored the next four goals for a 4-1 win and their fourth straight title.

Five minutes into the game, Prickett curved a perfect shot into the top right corner of the net past Mt. Vernon goalkeeper Ava Stephenson to put the Marauders behind 1-0.

But goals at the 15:14 mark and the 14:30 mark of the first half put Mt. Vernon back ahead before the break.

Mt. Vernin junior Taylor Bastin tied the game for Mt. Vernon on a low shot that curved around multiple Pendleton defenders and into the bottom right corner of the net.

Forty-four seconds later, senior Kylie Brandes put the Marauders ahead for good.

The first goal by Brandes was all that was needed for the win, but two minutes into the second half she added some insurance.

On a throw-in from fellow senior TaLaya Broaders into the box, Brandes found space in front of the Arabians net for a tap-in goal.

Kat Simmons outran the Arabians defense and scored in the closing minutes to cap off the 4-1 win and close out the undefeated HHC season for the Marauders.

The Pendleton Heights offense had chances in the second half to cut into the deficit, but each time were denied.

At the 17-minute mark, Ella Todd had a shot saved by a jumping Stephenson that was deflected out for a corner kick. On the corner, the Arabians fired another shot on net, but Stephenson was there for another tough save.

A few minutes later, another good Arabians look on net went just over the top bar, and shortly following that miss, in front of a crowded net, Prickett tapped a shot that for a moment seemed to have gone in but ended up rolling just outside the right post.

In net, Priscilla Barajas had six saves. Five came in a first half where she was constantly under pressure.